Bonus #2: Niagara - The Classic German Rock Scene

So now I'm cheating a little bit but this is such a bargain that it would be a shame not to. So Niagara was a Klaus Weiss thing who's made a few libraries too. Three albums: Niagara, SUB and Afire - this record collects the first two and there's a CD you can get of them all.

The first is the infamous breasts gatefold sleeve. Two tracks, Six musicians, All percussion. Sounds either great or terrible but ends up dithering between brilliant and tiresome. Not the kind of twenty minute track to hold your attention unawavered but something you can drop in and out of as time goes on. Both tracks are pretty similar but never really get boring, despite the limited range of the instrumentation.

The real doozy though is the second disc - where the tracks are shorter and they add in bass, synths and guitars. The first tracks sounds like it came straight from a library record, all funky drums and deep guitar riffs, but unlike a library track it goes on and on and on. The record continues on in this vein - really right funky music with the right kind of embellishments. At times it sounds a bit like the Big Beat or Mustafa Ozkent but with the Kraut foundations. Bones starts with a huge drum crescendo then breaks down into a frantic afro rock style breakdown. Overall it's a bit more funky than the kraut records on the list but I think it's a bit better for it.

The Afire record continues on in this vein - not quite as complete as the first two but still pretty funky. All of these records seem to stay at the expensive end of things and so it's nice that the double album listed above exists and enables you to get the first two relatively cheaply. The full set is on iTunes also.

So that was the year of revisiting krautrock. My first year in California will be spent listening to, what else, British Rap - I can't wait!

Bonus #1: Emtidi - Saat

Emtidi are a strange one. Two records - the first one is pretty much straight up folk. The second one is an incredibly bizarrely stunning psych folk kind of affair. Like all the great kraut records it completely outside of any canon or conception. Retains a bit wash of trad folk with a whole heap of kosmiche mixed in for luck.

Six tracks - The first track on each side is a bit different. Walkin' In The Park is beautifully sung and twists and turns around. And traditional bonkers lyrics - The grass is apparently to cold for their ass. It all goes trippy at the end too. Then it's off into synth city with a bonus hippy dippy plea to be one with something. It's so stunningly beautiful that it seems just weird to work.

On the other side Love Time Rain is slightly up tempo and a bit more urgent. Then back to the hippy dippy - the male and female vocals play off of each other and swirl around. Then it all ends on a whimper which follows some crazy German singing.

It's a hard record to describe but there's something magical about the way it all works together and how the vocals and guitars and synths blend together. It carries that Kraut tradition of seemingly impossible that such a beautiful record could have been made and that it exists. A total one off, it doesn't seem that Emtidi recorded again, nor did the members do anything again. This is probably one of my tip top favourite Kraut records.

Done

So that was krautrocksampler - some of the records I knew, some I didn't but it's a really solid list and there's some great music in there. It's been a strange year and will seemingly continue to be strange for some time I think but it's been tons of fun. So what have I learnt:

1. Listening to a record is great

So spending a week really getting to know a record is great. Even if it's something you know then giving it the space to breathe is fantastic. Even better is just sitting down to listen to something. With no distractions and no other tasks, I've really felt that I've been re-energised about music through the project. Also the different contexts really seemed to capture the essence of the list. The murky start to the year with Amon Duul and Can, the futurism of Cluster and Neu whilst riding the trains around the Bay Area. I have strong memories of walking back from the pub on holiday listening to the Cosmic Jokers as the light faded and the rain came in. Though I sometimes forgot to post, it was never a chore to listen to the records.

2. Can aren't that great, Cluster are incredible

I love can but sitting down to those records reminded me why I really don't listen to them that much - apart from the first disk of Tago Mago I think I could safely live without hearing Can again. There's something very cold and calculated about them which just didn't work with me. Cluster, on the other hand, are amazing and so incredibly bold that they occasionally reduced me to tears.

3. The Ambient axis is awesome

Zeit was the real revelation for me - I always liked it, always rated it way more than the other TD records but spending a week with it just brought home how utterly perfect it is. Also the latent presence of Klaus Schulze wrought large over the last parts of the project - incredible stuff. The more ambient side of the records appealed to me a lot over the year, perhaps because they needed the time and space to explore fully.

4. I need Tarot

I must must must buy a good copy of Tarot at some point in the future. Not an original but a CD copy with the accompanying cards.

5. Gille

Gille is the best thing about the Cosmic Jokers. Now that I've covered the CJ axis in full I may go back to those compilation records and give them a re-listen. Just to check


And also - my top 5 records on the list (no particular order)

1. Tangerine Dream - Zeit
2. Cluster - Cluster 2
3. Faust - Faust Tapes
4. Walter Wegmuller - Tarot
5. Witthuser & Westrupp - Trips and Traume

And to follow: Two bonus records, which weren't on the list but are vaguely krautrock and whilst not really omissions, are awesome records.

50: Witthuser & Westrupp - Trips & Traume

Last one! Always was put off this one - the cover isn't great, W&W were never covered in the text so I didn't really know anything about them to be honest. It was always tucked away at the back of things and never seemed that essential. Well, I'm an idiot because it's an incredible record and really tops off the whole project and closes this weird year.

So seven tracks, 40 minutes. The first track translates as Let's go on the journey - and is quite Donovan like at times. Quite folky, quite trad but with a slight kraut psych twist. It has a beautiful refrain and is really pretty good. The next track is very Donovan, seemingly taking the start of Season of the Witch and extending it out over 10 minutes. It's great, all the elements blending well together, going bonkers for a bit and then calming down and a bit of vocals.

Orienta is a guitar and maybe mandolin jam? One of those great tracks that just builds and builds. All the vocals are in German and really lift the record up and over into quality. Illusion I is a guitar thing with swirly organs all over the place.

Karlchen is the stand out track and fast became one of my favourite kraut tracks. Strumming guitar, cymbals and some recorder but so so much space to let the track breathe. Over this incredibly soft backdrop I presume it's Renee Zucker mumbling on in German. It's arrestingly stunning - her reading is perfect and you know it's probably hippy nonsense but who cares. It's just beautiful. Half way through it goes into a waltz with some brass and then back to the reading. So delicate and so pretty.

Then an English Waltz with some creaky violing before the finale of "Nimm Doch Einen Joint, Mein Freund" which almost spoils the whole thing being a song about smoking. Some people say that Hash makes Lash. Hmmm - it's okay. But overall this is a coherent record and it just works together so well. All my music is gone and is either finding a new home with my folks or is (not quite) winging it's way over the ocean to it's new place. I listened to this record everywhere and often and I never got tired, it has a lot to give.

So that's krautrocksampler.

49: Walter Wegmuller - Tarot

Tarot is the record on the list that I had been looking forward to the most - I can recall at least three occasions where I have had the CD version in my grasp only to get cold feet and pull out. I have similar memories of having the vinyl version of the Book of Om (Wah Wah one) in my shopping cart and then deciding that it's just too much of a punt. At the onset of this project, I was visiting a wiser friend, discussing Tarot and within minutes he had a copy of the said same CD in my hands and never had I wanted something more. But good things come to those who wait and this is a good thing. A very good thing. In my optimistic state of mind I think this might oust Zeit as my favourite record on the list - it's both utterly bonkers and utterly magical. Also it has that utterly quintessential krautrock sound of people acting without pretension and going the distance.

So Tarot. Double vinyl, came in a box with a set of Tarot cards, one for each track. Walter Wegmuller's only album, he looks a little bit like Rasputin on the original cover - there's three versions according to Discogs - the original boxed one, an Italian one (above) and a cheapo looking French pressing. The box is expensive, the other ones slightly less so but still pretty much out of reach. There's an old Spalax reissue in a box which comes with a repro of the tarot cards.

The first track introduces the band and lays bare the critical conundrum: What did WW actually do on this record? I love introducing the band tracks and this is a winner - presumably this is WW speaking, in the great Germanic/English mix: "We want you to come with us on the voyage through the time: Tarot". As is traditional each introduction is followed by a short riff - Keyboards yep, Guitar 1 yep, Guitar 2 yep, Drums yep, Bass yep. Then person one who seemingly does nothing: Walter Westrupp? Followed by mumbling. Then Klaus Schulze does his woopy synth noises. Then Walter Wegmuller introduces himself with a cough? Then some swirly vocals with tons of echo.

Anyway the music is great - mixing some fairly up tempo Cosmic Jokers style sounds with Walter's occasional intonations all in German. Some are Zeit-like ambient drones, some are funky, all the tracks are incredible. Der Herrscher we've heard before on one of the Cosmic Jokers 'albums'  and it sounds fantastic in the proper context. And is followed by a beautiful recorder piece, which would not be amiss on any acid folk album. Then they're off veering from out there electronic drones and noises to more standard rock and psych type sounds. The incredible thing about it is that as a double album it a) doesn't feel too long and b) stays fairly coherent - there's a nice flow to the whole thing and it hangs together as a whole. Which, considering the CJ involvement is pretty incredible.

So Tarot. It's everything I wished it would be, and so much more - a real eye opener for me. I now must track one down. One more record to go and I'm almost sad that this isn't number 50 as it would have been a perfect ending to the project. Hopefully Witthuser and Westrupp can match the incredibleness of this, but I doubt it.

Tarot might just be one of the most eye opening records I've ever heard.

48: Klaus Schulze - Blackdance

Klaus, now on Brain, seemingly recording with proper synths for the first time. The art reminds me a little of the Saturday Night Suit 45 but it's clearly way more serious. Klaus is a busy man - Discogs lists 68 releases for him and given the high standards on this record and irrlicht, he may warrant a little more investigation.

So Blackdance - standard Kraut fare mark 2 - i.e. two long tracks and one very short one. The first one comes off all Dario Argento. Tons of synths and some little bits of harpsichord before raising the tempo with drums and some more synths. Presumably when the lady of the film is being attacked my a man with a black glove. Again. The drums and tempo take away from the Zeit sweet spot but it keeps balance and remains a fairly solid affair.

Some Velvet Phasing is short and excellent - synth phasing for about eight minutes. A little too simple but straight from the book of Zeit. Voices of Syn is the real triumph. Klaus wheels on a mate to do some Church type hymn mutterings before going into big church organ and noodly synth and some ticky ticky drumming. The church organ ties it back to Zeit but the drums moves it forwards. It's really really good.

So that was Klaus - the revelation of Zeit and the continued theme through this is fascinating. Next week though is Tarot week, the week I've been looking forward to all year. Bring back the Cosmic Jokers!

47: Klaus Schulze - Irrlicht

Klaus Schulze presumably left Tangerine Dream because they were not going in the direction he was interested in. So he made this record, released in 1972 (the same time as Zeit) which sounds not far off Zeit's younger sibling. I never bought these at the time - they seemed to be a bit throwaway. The follow up record wasn't even pictured in the picture section of the book, though the odd one out record, Cyborg, was. Outside of the established groups these records felt less essential.

But Irrlicht, which Wikipedia says is the german for Will-o-the-wisp, so expect dodgy cartoon tvs and bad jokes? Three tracks, two 20 minutes and one about 5. Considering Klaus was a drummer there's not much drums here. The first track bimbles along for 10 minutes or so, before being overtaken by a huge church organ (c.f. Zeit) drone. The middle short track is a break between the two longer pieces and to be honest is mostly synth and processed drones throughout. It's really good though, doesn't quite have the commitment of Zeit but has the sound to some extent. It's a beautiful record and hangs outside of music in it's own assured way. It's big but it's not huge.

One of the problems I find with drone records is that they need loads of listens (way more than a week allows) in order to really get into them. I think this was the first time I really fully appreciated Zeit for what it is. They also need to be given the space to really listen to them - you can't get away with  having it on whilst watching Masterchef or similar. My house is starting to feel quite empty - I'm going to fill it with synth drones :-)

46: Tangerine Dream - Atem

Atem means breath and this was John Peel's Album of the Year in 1973. After Zeit where could they possibly go?, well seemingly they could go back to a more structured and more Ash Ra Tempel like sound. Which is what they did - weird that there's little trace of the might of Zeit in this record. Slowly going through the mountain of crap I've acquired over my life (birthday cards from 2003?, Sweet wrappers from god knows when, Star Trek playing cards?), it's weird how these artifacts present a revisionist view of my past. I've owned Atem (it's unfortunately on the charity shop pile) on a twofer with Alpha Centauri. I always assumed that one followed the other but Zeit now sticks out as the elephant that should be in the middle of that record set.

But Atem. 20 minutes of noodles - not far from Zeit but with far less conviction. The first track starts with drums. Drums.  Before breaking off into space with much synthesisers. There is one reason to buy this record and that reason is Fauni Gena on the start of side 2. It's almost straight from the book o' Zeit, all creepy mellotrons and cave dripping noises. It builds and grows and is fantastic. Circulation of Events has the elements but not the drive - it's noise and ambiance but there's something missing. The last track Wahn brings back Electronic Meditation style experimentation with all crazy voices swirling around.

So in summary. Breezes. It's not nearly as good as Zeit but I think it's better than Alpha Centauri. But hell if you'd just made a record as mighty as Zeit, you could pretty much just live off that forever. Incidentally, the child on the front is Edgar Froese's son aged 2 years. He joined Tangerine Dream in 1990 thus making him a pub quiz question: Which band featured a member on the cover an album when they weren't a member. Something to ponder over perhaps...

45: Tangerine Dream - Zeit

Zeit. I am currently outside of time - my life is being dictated by Ikea. One 5x5 expedit of things I value but don't want to weight me down. One 4x4 of things I cherish and can't be without. Everything else is falling by the wayside. This process started before this week and so I was surprised to find my copy of Zeit, bought prior to going to University in the great pre-Sheffield Krautrock binge, lurking in the 5x5. I've rescued it - thinking that there was a lengthy essay in the CD case but ironically enough it's just a quote from the book.

Zeit is one of those bizarre musical mysteries. Tangerine Dream, prior to this, had been an interesting but wholly inconsistent affair - much too unfocused. On this record, everything, is spot on and turned up to 11. It's the krautrock tour de force - a double album of 4 tracks - or four movements. There is a string quartet. Popol Vuh brings his moog along for the first track. It's an almighty record - totally beyond peer or description. Like the title suggests it hangs outside of any notion of time.

It's all incredibly ambient - no drums, no real rhythms just an incredible array of sounds and textures - like Ligeti at times all screams. That Fricke only appears on the first track is surprising - it's heavily like In Den Garten Pharoas throughout but way more intense. Brooding and frightening. It's also a little bit like the elder to Selected Ambient Works II - much more focused and much more effective. That I was prepared to leave this CD behind was just idiotic - it's an amazing record and, perhaps, the best one on the list? Maybe?

44: Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri eh? Whilst going through some records to take to charity (keep your eyes peeled at St Lukes in the coming weeks - there's going to be some good stuff up there), I found my copy of this Virgin twofer. Atem to follow but this is a new version of Tangerine Dream. Out are the Ash Ra Tempel drums and In is non-specific ambiance. They've gone space.

And I find these two mid albums fairly troubling - they're just not particularly interesting and a little bit (shhh) prog rock.

So what do you get for your money? Three tracks, 4 minutes, 13 minutes and 22 minutes. Some gough on the sleeve (though it might be just for this reissue - This album is dedicated to all the people who feel obliged to feel space). The best of the bunch is the 13 minuter which after a slow start builds to some crazy drumming over some laid back fluteage and a sudden ending. The first track is liek a low rent Popol Vuh. The 22 minute continues the low rent PV theme, and is pretty much organ all the way through. It's not got the oomph of PV though and so just ends up being somewhat boring.

So, this just leaves me a little cold and it's tendency towards sub standard Popol Vuh just makes me wish I was listening to Popol Vuh. Pah.

43: Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation

FREE BALLOON! Nothing appeals to fans of kosmiche than a free balloon. What's that you're playing with? It's my Electronic Meditation Balloon! I don't know but I imagine that this was the only freebie you got with an Ohr release. I first heard this record via Bristol Library, again bizarre that this was in the catalogue but it was. I can't quite recall what I made of it but I remember enjoying it. I think I was aware of the later stuff and knew that this was very different.

There's a great flow diagram of the meditation process on the gatefold but suffice to say this is more Electronic than a Meditation. Way closer to Ash Ra Tempel than any other krautrock stuff - tons of wibbles and heavy organ. Great titles too - like video nasties: Journey Through a Burning Brain. It's a trip for sure, but not a particularly memorable one. Lashings of fuzz guitar, loads of ambience and some backwards vocals for merits.

It's a trip - a continuous trip and a complete one. Very distinctive and interesting - I can't put my finger on why I don't like it more. It seems at times too abrasive and too jarring and while it does make a whole it's quite a static whole - there's not really enough colour in there to make it worthwhile. And, apart from the Balloon and the backwards vocals, there's not enough humour or light to lift it. It's good, but not great.

42: Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra

The preceding record makes this one all the more perplexing. I don't think I got this one fully when I bought it - I was more into Pharoas when I was younger but now I'm starting to think that this is the real gem in the set of Popol Vuh records. There's not real point in describing each track since they all go into one anyway.

It's basically completly spiritual, totally outside of any of the other records in the book. There's no motorik, and it borders on trad classical music at times. Mostly piano and guitar, with the occasional oboe and Djong Yun's stunning vocals drifting all over the top of it. Cope describes it as sounding like it was recorded in a retreat which I totally agree with. It sounds like the lake from Pharoas.

I didn't buy Affenstunde when I was picking up the first round of krautrock, and know I'm torn between that and this as being my favourite Popol Vuh's. They don't sound like krautrock and at times they don't sound like music. It's a stunning record.

41: Popol Vuh - Einsjager und Siebensjager

Falling behind again. This was always a bit of a weird one in the Popol Vuh canon and I never quite got it when I first bought it and I still find it perplexing. Cope put it in the wrong order which might explain it a little but it does feel like it's leading towards Hosianna Mantra rather than coming from it.

The artwork is horrific but it's an official Cosmic Courier release now. The first side is a bunch of shortish tracks with guitar and piano. It's a bit too un-cosmic for my liking and veers into plod rock on occasions which is never a good thing. Too hit and miss. The second side is a standard 20 minute track but again with too much rock influences. I'm aware that they could no longer plow the 20 minute psychouts they did previously but this feels like a completely different group.

It does make me wonder just how he picked out these records - surely the missing Amon Duul record is better than this? There's not much krautrock in this record, and it's not off the wall like Rastakrautpasta but it's just a little bit boring.

40: Popul Vuh - In Den Garten Pharaos

Popol Vuh played large in my teenage years. Krautrocksampler aside, my number one squeeze of the time, Flying Saucer Attack, had tracks titled Popol Vuh 1, 2 and 3 I believe. There's not much of connection between the two bands, though clearly FSA felt that there was. I can remember purchasing this record from the legendary Revolver records in Bristol. I approached the counter with this and the first Third Eye Foundation record on Linda's Strange Vacation. The guy in the shop told me that there was a connection between the two. I can remember looking at the sleeve on the bus home to Wrington, trying to figure it out. There's certainly three people in the band:

Who the lady is I still don't know - the mysterious Gertig? Who's credited with Regie in Studio? Or Bettina credited with production? Then there's this picture:

Which strangely sums up the Popol Vuh ethos - two weirdy hippy types hanging out by the lake.

So In Den Garten Pharoas: Two tracks, one title track (18 minutes) and one called Vuh (20 minutes). The title track is stunning, waves lapping at the shore of the lake - congas and wailing synths. It shifts around a bit, sometimes more about drums and sometimes more about the synths. It's beautiful and like the great 20 minute songs, never outstays it's welcome.

My version of this record is a later repress on Bernhard Mikulkski, which weirdly rebadges the inner sticker as a Kosmischen Kuriere record despite it being on Pils. Discogs confirms that the original has a Pils inner.

Vuh is the krautrock tour de force. Huge organ drones and cymbal crashes for 20 minutes, a bit of a choir. The organ is from Baumberg according to the sleeve - not sure if they recorded it at the church but they could well have done. It's a huge wall of drone, a spiritual clash. This feels way longer than 20 minutes, like 20 hours of your life passes as you lose yourself in the noise. It's bizarrely impressive and I can't really think of any other group that could pull this one off.

39: Popul Vuh - Affenstunde

I don't even know what Popol Vuh is. Impossible to describe - especially the early version, again - outside of any convention or any reference point or any kind of music heard before or after. Affen Stunde - Ape Hour according to Google, Monkey Hour according to Cope. Never bought it, never seen it, never been that bothered. I have an odd relationship with Popol Vuh. I love them to death but I don't find myself drawn to them, at least not previous to this project. I fear that may change in the great krautrock re-evaluation.

So Affenstunde, like the best Kraut is two 20 minute tracks, the first being in the mould that follows and titled "Ich mache einen spiegel": I make a mirror. A mixture of watery splashes, leading into electro drone and bleepy ambiance with some frantic bongo action in the background. It breaks down into drumming half way through before returning to electronic whirs before disappearing off into the ether. The title track continues the electronic ambiance theme (and drums) but it's not ambiance without purpose - there's a deep method to madness. Nor is it avant or far out, it's just spiritual. Like Fricke is pouring out his essence onto the record and making it real through an electronic medium. It reads, and sometimes sounds like the worst kind of new age nonsense you've ever heard but as an album it really ties together. He takes you on this journey which from the outside appears horrifically pretentious but inside the moment feels like the most perfect glove.

So how does affenstunde fit into the krautrock life story? I don't know. The growing sense of the new and the reflection and re-understanding of life. Affenstunde makes the notion of pretention seem utterly redundant - that things that sound awful described can actually turn out incredible. Like Buckminster Fuller and his oustidely naff attempts to recreate the world, Popol Vuh create their world and it is wonderful. Soon I will live there and soon I will be one of the happiest people.

37:Neu! - Neu! 2

So my chin sagged under the weight of this years inaugural CHI beard. The weight and the looming deadline, meant that blogging was off the radar as I raced to get my 10 pages done and polished. Neu! 2 is cheap! The sleeve says 1,000,000 vorbestellungen which seemingly translates as 1,000,000 preorders. Well that's 1,000,00 people that are going to pretty pissed off when the record arrives.

The first side is wonderous. Fur Immer is right out the book of Hallogallo, all drums and wandering guitars, utter Motorik heaven. Spitzenqualitat is huge drums in a huge cave, Gedenkminute is exactly one minute of chimes and processing. Lila Engal is a sneering Hallogallo, pre-punk Neu! at it's finest.

Then the second side. The bonkers, stupid mess of the second side. The side that makes you feel ripped off. The real fuck off as Cope says. The legend says that Neu! ran out of money recording the first side - but that feels unlikely to me, it's more likely that they got bored, and decided to stick two fingers up at the world. So the second side is the single Neuschnee / Super played at different record speeds. So Neuschnee played at 78 / Super played at 16 and 78. Neuschnee played back on a tape whilst someone holds the tape player down, slowing it up and speeding it down. The songs themselves are superb - Neuschnee is played slow, Super starts off with somone saying "Neu!" and then leading into superb riffage territory. BUT the "edits" (One of them described them as the precursor of remixes) are utter dross and make you feel like you've been ripped off. It's unlistenable rubbish - a joke taken way too far.

What they were thinking I'll never know but it's just not good nor defensible. It defies sense. They're not a soft target. Neu! 2 makes me feel dirty and ashamed. It should have been solid but it's somewhat embarrassing.

38:Neu! - Neu! 75

Though this should be called Neu! - the '75 bit being added on the inner sleeve only (at least on the reissue copy that I have at least). For this record I swapped the sunny skies and cute dogs of San Francisco for the cold and wet picturesque Sheffield. This one accompanied me as I dashed round the city, down to Palo Alto, back to the Mission and then onwards; lugging my case to Oakland for my last meal in the US and tearful farewells. It's almost ironic that the record almost sums up my time on the west coast - dazzling, beautiful, accomplished and that byword of the best krautrock: optimistic.

Neu! 75 totally makes up for the awfulness of Neu! 2. The terror of that second side washes away with the opener Isi - classic Neu! in the Hallogallo style but with a light piano. Then two tracks of that contemplative noisy ambiance that they do so well. Side 2 kicks off with Hero - proto punk? maybe but only in the sneer. Riffs and drums and some barely coherent singing, it's wondrous and fills the record with joy and sneer. E-Musik is back to the drums and riffing and then After Eight, revisits Hero with more sneer and more impudence.

All in this is just a great record and such a relief after the last one disappointed so. If you only get one Neu! record then get this.

36: Neu! - Neu!

The band that defined the sound. Dinger and Rother together at last. Speedfreak clean as Cope says. I had my Neu! spiel all ready to go. Oh yeah, Hallogallo's great but the rest of the album is all those stupid noise experiments. But, as usual, I'm dead dead wrong and I've completly underestimated how good Neu! are in their totality.

So Hallogallo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItXUqk_eIE8), Dinger's drums, that wikky-wikky sound and the rest. 10 minutes of pure joy and non stop fury. It's as incredible as you remember and it's way better than the last time you listened to it. They could retire on that and go down as one of the greatest bands in the world. But then they go off into "experimental" territory and do things that most groups would completely fail at. BUT. And it's a big BUT. They do it really really well. Between Hallogallo and Negativland are three beautiful meandering tracks that drift in and out of your consciousness and are just stunning. Negativland is slower than hallogallo and adds some aggressiveness to the mix, but the pattern of drums and bass is the same. Then it rounds off with Lieber Honig which is more drifty but with strange child like horror vocals.

I was never sure if they were trying to re-create music or if that was just something that people made up. But this is just a really fantastic record and the best thing is that it's a record that you can listen to from start to finish and every track is an eye opener. Maybe they weren't trying but they sure achieved something.

35: Moebius and Plank - Rastakraut Pasta

So Labour Day (or Labor Day) caught me out. Labour Day is like bank holiday monday but for the US, and seemingly has some link with May Day but the specifics escape me. I spent my Labour Day Day on a foggy beach watching crabs, eating burgers and drinking beer. So pretty much a typical bank holiday affair.

The week prior had been spent in the company of the oldball entry in the list. Except that, now that I've heard it, I don't think it's particularly oddball any more. The Moebius is Dieter from Cluster and the Plank is Conny from everywhere. It's all a bit worthy but has moments of excellence. This was a funny one as it seemed like a crappy record from the cover and I seem to recall that all the purists hated it's inclusion, though I don't really know why.

It has the fun elements of Harmonia and Cluster but with a bit of an arch overtone. The first track is all grates and cluster drums. The title track veers slightly towards reggae but is quite listenable - it's weird how takes on reggae often turn out all right. There's a bit of a noise break and then the best song on the record Missi Cacadou. Over reggae-ish drums and guitars Plank (presumably) puts down tons of electronic squiggles and bleeps and some bonkers processed vocals. I have doubly no idea what whoever it is is going on about but it's a fun journey nonetheless. The album then rounds off with some noodling.

So, overall, this is pretty good - not amazing, or as good as the cluster axis and not as fun as the La Dusseldorf things but better than the cosmic jokers at their worst.

34: La Dusseldorf - Viva

That back cover makes it all clear. La Dusseldorf are the funningist Krautrock group ever - completely able to humour themselves and those around them. This lot are having FUN and they want you to know all about it. And like the one before this record is ludicrously optimistic and utterly non-pretentious despite potentially being pretentious. Again it's like the best bits of Neu! pushed down and injected with humour. I listened to this record twice a day over the past week - it would settle me into the day at PARC and then I would start it up again getting the train back from Palo Alto. Racing towards San Francisco, reading Sweet Thursday and the clouds rolling over south San Francisco, the fog slowly clearing to reveal the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen. It would also join me on walks to the Oakland Whole Foods where the beer selection is better than Beer Ritz, Utobeer and the Dram Shop combined and they even have an Olive Bar in the store than you can pitch up a stool and eat until the store closes*.

And like how Neu!'s Heroes almost pre-defines punk, this record has a lot of the characteristics of the punk sound but without the sneer, and without the fear. The first four tracks slide by in a crescendo of durms and synths. Then Geld with steady drums and wavering lyrics - god knows what they're on about - no doubt Money but I don't really know what their stance is. Then Cha Cha 2000, so good it spawned a band (which is also good: http://www.discogs.com/Cha-Cha-2000-Autobahn/release/159839). And it is good - great in fact. All that great uplifting Neu! piano and drums, and the repetition of Cha Cha Zwei Tousand! It's cheesy as hell but I fucking love it and the line "dance to the future" makes me beam from ear to ear. I am so glad that they could go to this place that no-one else would - no-one sings about paradise anymore and that's something of a shame as this really works.

What a great blissful joy of a record.

*This is a lie.

33: La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf

Another great record on the Cluster/Neu/Harmonia axis of krautrock. La Dusseldorf was Klaus Dinger of Neu! and some other boneheads (Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe). I like Neu! a great deal but they can come across a little dry sometimes, ditto for Cluster and you know what - sometimes it's nice to talk things seriously but sometimes you just want to have fun. This is that but with a kraut bent. It's fantastic, uplifting and invigorating music that has (eeek) a sense of humor but isn't stupid. I listened to this walking back from the 24th street Mission BART stop to my place on the Mission. The sun was shining, I was in a ridiculously good mood having spent the better part of the day trading Simpsons quotes back and forth. The optimism washed over me and I cried for at least the better part of one block.

The opener, Dusseldorf, is bonkers - Dinger plays right from the book of Neu! but someone (one of the Dingers) keeps saying "Dusseldorf" over and over in a fairly stupid voice. Following that it's right into "La Dusseldorf" which is pretty much the same thing but with the stupid voice turned up to 11. Silver Cloud is then the most optimistic Kraut song, all plinky synths and low tempo chugging riffs. Then a lower tempo song which is classic slow Neu! with someone wittering on. Presumably about time.

So, I don't want to call this since I haven't revisited Neu! in some time, but this could out-Neu! Neu!. It's like the best part of Neu! - the drums and relentless riffing with the addition of stupid vocals and german male wailing. It's pretty incredible and I will be putting in my order once I get home.

32: Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk

This is a tricky one. So Kraftwerk was a double album on Vertigo which collated the two Traffic Cone LPs which pre-date most of the Kraftwerk that is known and loved. I have something of a confession to make: I don't really care for Kraftwerk. I like the idea of them but in practice they leave me wanting. But this is not the Kraftwerk of synthesisers, robots and drum machines - this is Avant Kraftwerk, all ambience, drones and hums. In theory there's not much not to like but in practice it's Bad Avant rather than good Avant.

The double-albumness of the whole thing doesn't do much to help meaning that even though there's a mixture of short and long tracks everything drags on and at the end of it, you come away with not much. Klingklang is okay but sounds more like Neu! than anything else. Atem is typical of the other tracks, with not much rhythm and a lot of sound effects - like someone breathing for 3 minutes.

The only reason that this album is worth thinking about, however, is Ruckzuck. 8 minutes of frantic flute staccato accompanied by synthesizer tinkling - it's really good but not outstanding. It does, however, stand out amongst the drier parts of the record. I tried this record everywhere - to and from Palo Alto, around SF on the BART, over to my favourite stop: 19th Street in Oakland. Once, on the train, the timing of the train pulling up and the record slowing down ending of one of the tracks was in perfect synchronicity. Even this did not lift the record up above where I had thought it was. It's just quite boring.

31: Harmonia - Deluxe

If Musik Von Harmonia was the glorious sound of the future, then Deluxe is unashamedly the sound of the present wrought bare: the hope made real and the vision realised in frightening technicolour. Gone is the mild hesitation of the previous record, and in it's place is (bizarrely for krautrock) humour. Here are one and half groups at the peak of their powers and they're having a really good time.

And so, how MVH was all about the fear of the future, and the realisation that the future can be wondrous and inspiring, Deluxe is about the realisation of that future. And Deluxe also represents infatuation and admiration - that one's perspective can be radically altered through something as simple as a smile, a touch of hands or a laugh. This record has largely accompanied me on trips from Palo Alto to Millbrae - a buffety American beast of a train that careers at breakneck speed through the Bay Area towards San Francisco. Whereas MVH accompanied these types of clattering journeys, Deluxe plays off them - it races ahead of the train and off into the future, laughing as it goes.

It's wondrous and I'm besotted and more so than before, it combines the best of Cluster with the best of Neu! The tracks are generally long, but have a purpose and have a sense that they've reached their destination rather than trying endlessly to get to where they want to go. The opener is all synths and guitars, with repeated lyrics (in German) which I dare not translate but Immer Wieder means again and again according to Google. The long track on side 1has lots of wobbles and drums. Then, just when you think they've gone all ambient on us, they kick in to a revisitation of the first track. It's start with some delayed guitar noise then breaks into a great Neu like rhythm with (someone) chuckling away. Then we're off into more traditional territory of plinking synths and guitar strumming for the remaining tracks.

This record, and my feelings about it, are utterly bound to my present situation of course. I feel the uncertainty and the fear in it of course, but my present bounds me to optimism and of course I treat the record as such. I just bought an iPad, the whole experience being a fearful realisation that the future is now and I spoke to my niece yesterday over Skype and she was (rarely) struck dumb by the experience, coming alive only to ask me if there was as fun fair in San Francisco, and then telling me all the details about her recent swimming party. Harmonia, for me, will always be great because of the Cluster connection but the humour inherent in the record lifts it above  and beyond for me and turns it into something that dazzles.

30: Harmonia - Musik Von Harmonia

I think this might be the first record on Brain that's been covered. Not that it's in any way significant but, to me, Brain represents the Motorik end of the kraut spectrum rather than the cosmic and way out Ohr type stuff. This was one of the great Revolver records tape sets, and I can remember the guy waving this record round in the shop, saying how great it was. At the time I thought the cover was stupid but now it seems utterly radical - a ridiculously bold statement and totally within the Neu/Cluster framework.

Honestly a record featuring Cluster and Neu was never going to bad but pondering the future and having the space to muse on context over the past week has made me realise that this is one of the best records on the list. And it's a record of its time and of its context and my appreciation of it has been shaped by my context. Firstly, its the sound of a growing metropolis - the clanks of whirrs of commuting, and the electronically processed sounds of the city. I've listened to this on my morning commute, across one subway, one train and one bus - each track resonating with each mode of transport. I listened to it on the T-Train, from South San Francisco, up to the Baseball and Tourists of Embarcadero and then down into the depths of the city underneath Market Street. Then on the way into SF MOMA, wondering what my future holds and being totally enlightened by Buckminster Fuller's dazzling vision of a positive future. Technologically the late 70s had the same promise of the now - that anything will be achievable, and the record drips of the future both in terms of its sound and its overall vision. It's both of its time and completely outside of its time.

Watussi kicks things off and is all scrapes and synth whoops, to be swiftly followed by Sehr Kosmisch which acts as the title suggests. Then Sonnenschein goes back to the Watussi mold, combining synths, drones and drum machines to create its whole. Dino is the most Neu! like of the tracks, and with a more analog drum sound could probably have passed itself off as Neu!. Then the huge drone of Ohrwurm and the plinky plonk of Ahoi!. Cluster/Neu combines for Veterano before some avant tinkling on Hausmusik.

There's a sense of humour throughout, like Roedielius and Moebius are having a laugh at the future and maybe it's all a massive piss take but the music is so glorious that I can't help but think that this vision aligns with my own, a stunning technological utopian view. Or maybe it's the seratonin messing with my head.

29: Guru Guru - UFO

Never bought this at the time - they were one of the bands on the list that I never really felt that anyone liked them. They are an odd edition to the list, and odd in terms of Krautrock in that they don't really have any kraut tendencies. There's not Motorik beat, no crazy fuzz, no electronic experimentation. Musically they're close to Amon Duul 2 but they don't quite match they relentlessness.

So what we actually end up with is 5 tracks of fairly mid tempo heavy stoner rock and where a lot of krautrock groups tended present some kind of vision of what the future looked like, Guru Guru seemed to present what a Californian garage band rehearsal sounds like. It's okay but it's not unique enough to really hold your attention. The first three tracks are all normal fuzz and cymbals - there's a little bit of vocals on the first track, but nothing substantial - certainly nothing comprehensible.

The longest (and title) track is "out there", but in the worst possible way, all vague shredding and feedback - it's not super krautrock at 10 minutes long but it does feel longer. The last track goes back to the first three.

I guess this record reflects Cope's love of stoner rock but I think that there was nothing here that really grabbed me, and I do quite like heavy rock but the sound of men on downer drugs playing downer music does nothing for me. In short, it did not float my boat.

28: Sergius Golowin - Lord Kirshna Von Goloka

This was the second record on the Cosmic Couriers Ohr offshoot. Cope claims that Golowin was a Swiss MP, but his wikipedia page suggest that he worked for the government in some capacity but then contradicts itself a bit later. He was "in" with the Timothy Leary crowd and thus by extension the Kaiser crew. Here he teams up with some of Ash Ra Tempel and Wallenstein to make the frankly bonkers Lord Krishna von Goloka.

This LP is three tracks, two long, one short - the basic idea being cosmic meanderings with interjections (in German) by Golowin. He goes on a bit. It might well be interesting poetry but I can't understand it nor can I find any translations anywhere.

There's not much to say about it - it's an okay record. The two long tracks are too long and too meandering to be of any real interest and pretty much follow the cosmic jokers approach. The short track, however, is fantastic and a real reason to check this record out (or maybe not). Light guitar strumming with wibbly synth noises in the background - he even sounds less bonkers on this than the other tracks.

So is it worth buying this record for this track alone - well no. Not because the tracks pants, but I would much rather have the Cosmic Jokers cash in comp that this track is on - at least it's a bit more varied and less preachy. So there we go Sergius - somewhat boring but with a good heart.

27: Faust - Faust IV

So I think this is the first Faust recorded outside of Wumme and I'm sure it's the Krautrock credence that this makes it an inferior record. The true essence of Faust was born and died at Wumme - stupid old Virigin, bringing them over to the UK which, of course, led directly to their downfall. I think I felt this at the time and I think I still feel this now - this is Faust's masterpiece.

It's a brother to So Far in that it consists of actual songs (The shortest track here is around the 3 minute mark) and it's inherently un-Faust in that there's very little cut ups. But anyway - the opener "Krautrock" pretty much defines the genre it turns out. All spinning guitars and fuzz. Then Faust do reggae and the Sad Skinhead. But it's not really reggae but it's Faust through and through. Overlapping vocals, bonkers lyrics and not much to do with Skinheads.

Jennifer is one of my favourites - a beautiful guitar melody, on repeat of course, steady drumming and the lines "Jennifer your red hair burning, Yellow jokes come out your mind". It's really beautiful and the space that they allow themselves pushes the song further forwards. Then it's back into more structured soundscaping type affairs - my CD version has mixed up the tracks and so it all the titles are mixed up after this. Giggy Smile is stupid, and is repetition in the vain of Chet Va Buddah from the Faust Tapes. Then more French, over choppy violins and nice drumming. Some buzzy nonsense. Then another song proper - it's a bit of a pain to be where I am.

So it's not bonkers, it's fairly centered on the here and now and there's no cut ups. But it's a great record and has the flashes of invention seen in the other records but now it's tempered with a strange skill with regard to your actual songwriting. It's consistent and it's great - I find it completely that a group that were clearly finding a really interesting direction to follow were dropped after this record. But I'm glad that this record exists.

26: Faust - The Faust Tapes

So now it comes to this. Cope claims that the Faust Tapes was the social phenomena of 1973 and I can sort of believe it. It's a bonkers record that's fairly accessible and was sold for a super knock down price. I don't have an original with the lovely Bridget Riley sleeve - Mine was purchased in the great Krautrock goldrush from Revolver records after the guy behind the counter said he had one "round the back" So I end up with the RR reissue which (so Mr. Revolver claims) is a better pressing as the 25p virgin one was done on the cheap. Similar, though, is that it's 2 sides of unlabelled music - the CD reissue finally revealing the track titles (though most of them are "Untitled") and a page of lyrics.

And to some extent this was a sound of my late teenage years - one of those records that I know back to front and still find something to excite when I listen. It's the cut-up Faust, presumably this was just stuff that was on the cutting room floor way back when that's been collated into one record.

26 tracks in total, mainly vocal-less and a mix of sounds - loads of electronics, always playful. The first side is dominated by their most memorable moment, now revealed as J'ai Mal Aux Dents (I have toothache according to Google but renamed Shempal Buddah) - the title repeating over some nonsense words and some thumping guitar noises. There's a great Ectogram cover which is worth seeking out (and goes into the 20 minute zone). It's impossible describe as it lurches from one style of music to another - but like the previous records all the excerpts are perfect, short and to the point.

It's a fantastic record, but for me - the trailing three songs (Stretch Out Time, Der Baum and Chere Chambre) are almost what the whole record has been leading up to. All three have lyrics - Stretch Out Time is sung in heavily accented English. Der Baum continues the classic Faust trick of them all singing a different bit of the song - not really in a circular fashion but seemingly picking a line at random - Feeling like a tree today and it's a nice feeling yeah. It's absolutely stunning and the stop start nature of the song is really arresting.

The last track is just beautiful - Jean-Herve mumbling in French over some finger picked guitar. Half way through it switches to German as someone reads out a shopping list. The translations can be found on the web (e.g. http://faust-pages.com/records/concerts2.html) and it's not dissapointing. Unlike, for example Melody Nelson where the actual lyrics are all about Sunderland and how Melody's hair is red and it's her natural colour, this seems to be actually quite nice.

And it's all over. There can't be many records like this, mainly because there's not many bands  who could pull it of - a perfect collection of crap from the floor of Wumme. As alluded to in previous posts GZM alluded to it and did a pretty good job (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE65obru82Q) but, much as I love them, even they couldn't keep this up (and keep it interesting) over a full length record. It seems unlikely but Faust are a true one-off - a marriage of musical talent and managerial nous.

25: Faust - So Far

So halfway through and this blog has crossed the 1000 hits mark. And the second album from Faust - a bit more coherent than the first, and certainly more defined. Whereas the first came in a see through sleeve, this is none more black with an additional set of images (one per track) also included with the original record. The images are of the "interesting" variety and I'm sure they mean something but they do almost remind me of the Bad Art sketch on Portlandia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3k8qWTn4Rg).

But this is Faust right? Masters of ideas, trickers of Polydor, makers of merriment. And this record is brilliant - bursting with genius, skewing all over the place but, like the previous, always enjoyable. Listening to this now you can hear the influences spread forwards. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci must have listened to this a lot - in fact blend Faust with the Soft Machine and you totally have GZM.

It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl is close to a song, all drums and the lyrics said over and over. The next track sounds like an outtake from Look Around You. Both songs in that they don't change much over the course. But is this Faust's downfall? That they are the hyperactive child of Krautrock, never sitting still. No Harm goes a little all over the place - it's timid for a bit, falls into a whizz, then a beautiful refrain (which, with the horns is utterly GZM) and all of sudden into a funky locked groove. It's weird that the record that they're best known for - that was a bit of a throw away, use up stuff on the cutting room floor, is also how their sound is defined. It's a bloody good job that they can get away with it and make it work or they'd be screwed.

The title track has no vocals and poodles along. Then Mamie Is Blue with some super heavy electronic crunches with withering vocals - they're always at their best, and their best is so far out from anything before or after it that it almost defies music itself. The next one's like good music hall, with comedy synths and bouncing drums. I've got my car and my TV, what should I care about you and your fun. They do their fun vocal cut ups with Me Lack Space - a poem where every second or so is missing. The lyrics are fantastical nonsense and then it goes back down to some French and music hall again. It sounds almost like the Beta Band - another group that could sometimes get away with aping music hall and getting away with it. Sleeping right, Thinking of the past, I wonder how long, Is this gonna last?

It's infuriatingly good, has no agenda whatsover and is just magical. The sounds of a group who are reinventing what they think music is and are totally comfortable with it. A crazy blend of sounds and styles that seems to have appeared organically. So whereas Can's jamming felt pretty regimented - like Irmin gets them all together and explains what's going to go down - this feels like Rudolf and Gunther are pissing about with a football outside so the rest of them play any old shit to pass the time, Uwe collects this all together and makes an album out of it. Utter genius.

24: Faust - Faust

So Faust. I have a bit of a frustrated history with this record. In 1996 I visited Sheffield proper for the first time, got talking to the guy in Record Collector about Krautrock. He proffered Carnival In Babylon and Faust, for purchase, and I ummed and urred about it but went for Carnival in the end. Then, later that year, my birthday was approaching and on the wall of the long gone Jack's (on Division Street) was Faust for a reasonable price. It was probably a boot but by the time my birthday came round and I was somewhat flush it had vanished.

Thus I had to wait for the rather excellent Faust Wumme Years box set to come out and hear the first album. I already had Faust Tapes and IV and thus had a pretty good handle on what they were all about. The story of Faust is well covered in the book and in the box set but basically it was a producer (Uwe Nettlebeck) wangle over Polydor to build a studio and let them jam for (seemingly) ever and then produce records out of it all.

That the Faust Tapes are completely unique is clear but this record, more so than So Far, is actually quite similar to the Tapes. Despite consisting of 3 tracks a lot of the motifs and styles that appear on the Faust Tapes emerge here. So there are cuts up, there are tons and tons of echo on random noises there is a seeming wandering nature but unlike, e.g. the Cosmic Jokers, these wanderings really work. So where the CJ were seemingly cherry picking from a relatively short session you get the feeling that Faust recorded mountains of material and they picked out the best stuff out for this record.

Like all great records it sounds of itself and you hear the past and the present embedded in the sound. The opener is called Why don't you eat carrots? and, like Faust Tapes, mixes German and English lyrics, opening with the beatles. The lyrics aren't far off MF DOOM or similar "I ask you sick sailing sailors blind" but it's all over the place.

Meadow Meal, however, is a complete triumph - marginal cut ups, overlapping lyrics and some moments of real movement. Utterly fantastic, bonkers. The final track continues the same theme - again mixing German and English lyrics to make something otherworldly. The most amazing thing about Faust though is that even when you feel that they're just pissing about it sounds amazing, totally coherent and clear. It's an incredible sound to pull out of what seems like utter chaos. And even though they not constantly wigging out there's enough variation and invention to keep you interested. And then in the last minute or so comes the thing that only Faust seemingly can do - an almost whispered refrain over a beautiful lamenting guitar. Each word being said by a different person, utter nonsense "I lift my skirt when Voltaire turns" it's completely mesmerising and utterly stunning.

So now I regret not being able to buy this in the times I had the opportunity. It's hard to get across just how good Faust are and it's not immediately obvious that they are. But it's pretty much a musical (and life) rarity - a group that are utterly bursting with ideas and invention, given the space to make them real, and delivering on each one. It's incredible. 

23: Cosmic Jokes / Sternmadchen - Gilles Zeitschiff

On paper this should have been awesome and perhaps it is. The Cosmic Jokers / Cosmic Couriers "ride" has been somewhat bumpy, the summary being that Planetin Sit In is good, Sci Fi Party is great but not really the Cosmic Jokers and that they work best with vocals - principally Gille.

So, what can go wrong? Gilles Zeitschiff should be 100% Gille, the idea is the same as Sci Fi Party - i.e. no new music but Gille muttering over a load of the Cosmic Couriers back catalogue. I listened to this record repeatedly over the past week whilst on holiday though mostly it sent me to sleep so I don't really think I've given it a fair listen. However it has significant promise and a significant defect. The promise is great: Gille relays the story of the Cosmic Jokers over the Cosmic music - it's (probably) an interesting story, with Timothy Leary and all the other freewheeling members of the Jokers playing their parts. The downside is Gille (now, realising it's pronounced Gill-a rather than Jile) is German and delivers her story entirely in German. My pigeon German can't keep up but my basic translation is: Timothy comes with his wife, and they go to the cinema (Tim gehe ins Kino). The rest of it is lost on me - but it seems that at several points they were surrounded by friends.

The record itself is standard Cosmic fare - all whirling synths and phased vocals but there's a bit more to the recycling than previously. The first track is all Gille, then it goes into Downtown from the 7 Up record. The third is a welcome change: A track from (the to be reviewed) Lord Krishna LP - sounding (typically) a million times better than the standard Cosmic Couriers fare. Then, more of 7Up, but with a bit of Gille going on about lots of friends again. Then that awful bloody Right Hand Lover track from 7Up and you start to feel this is basically 7Up but with a touch of Gille.

It finally finds it's feet on "Cosmic Couriers Bon Chance": Gille announces the title, then, finally, some English - I presume that this is Brian Bennett. And what a psychedelic nutter he is - all the cliches come out but it weirdly works: "So we dug that we should get deep into the vibes - cos' that's where it was happening", "So we said add some Sci-Fi to this German high-vibes and we've got ourselves a new reality". There's a weird sense of conviction about the whole thing, so all the nonsense about Sci-Fi/Psy-Fi that's in the book was not just a joke but they were serious about the whole thing.

More cosmic wibbles then Brians back with some interesting insights: "Tim saw the 7Up record as a Mandala. A mandala is not, it seems, an incoherent mess but a form of sacred art. It synths it's way onwards after this and then a lady (presuming Brian's partner) intones a bit in a posh English way and then it's all over.

The essential problem with this record, in comparison to Sci Fi Party, is that it focuses too much on the Ash Ra/CJ axis rather than the more interesting Tarot/Lord Krishna records which are far far better and more varied.

However, the legendary mrowster commented on previous CJ releases that this is drug music and I think he might be right. One holiday evening I walked back from the pub, a little tipsy, over muddy tracks and fields in the dark and the rain, listening to about half of this record and it suddenly started to make sense - rather than being dull and tedious it became fresh and frightening and, dare it be said, coherent. I was half tempted to stay out in the rain and listen further. So perhaps this is the take away message from the CJ debacle.

Listening to the woman at the end though makes me think again: "Timothy Leary is a Love God: TL stands for True Love. Tim radiates erotic energy". Keep it to yourself love.

22: Cosmic Jokers - Sci Fi Party

What do you do when the jokes have run out? Well it seems that the best thing to do is to take the joke to the next stage. The Cosmic Jokers joke ran out on album 2, album 3 was the cutting room floor and now there's this Cosmic Curiousity. Basically this is a compilation album of records on CC - from Cosmic Jokers past glories, through Wegmuller and Wallenstein and touching on a bit of Ash Ra Tempel too. So it's basically like all the other CJ records - a big mash up of cosmic jam sessions, hastily pasted together to form a horrifically incoherent whole. The stupid thing about this record is: it really works. I don't know why and I don't really want to know but I've had this on repeat for the past week. I don't think I'd buy it, but it has made me feel that I need to own the Planeten Sit In. The key thing is, once again, Gille. She is the cosmic key that opens the cosmic door to cosmic excellence.

The LP starts off with "Im Reich Der Magier" which is basically one of the tracks on the first CJ album. So far so so but half way through Gille and some other bloke start mumbling away about cosmic stuff and it's excellent. Gille mumbles on about Walter Wegmuller, pronounces Tarot to rhyme with carrot and then the track blends into Der Herrscher from the Tarot LP. In a moment of Cope like clarity I decided that this was the best segue to occur in music ever. It's magnificence cannot be understated - prior to it's occurence, Brian Barrit rambles on about a galaxy of phallons. Whereas on the CJ album proper that was a welcome relief, here it sounds crass and unnecessary. But Gille says "Cosmic Composer" and then "Mr. Tarot" and then the track plays. After the wandering tediousness of the past 4 weeks, this is like the ding bit in Mother Sky - utter clarity amongst the madness. The Tarot track is superb and then it follows up with the hilariously titled Cosmic Couriers meet South Philly Willy by Wallenstein which is, again, really really good.

And then it keeps going - all the best bits of those crappy records together, and it sounds wonderful. Gille mutters more and more and they do the best tracks from Planetin Sit It. Bizarrely it sounds like a complete album which is a feat that even the mighty Dieter couldn't manage with the last three records. It all comes to and end with Planeten Sit In again - the beautiful piano refrain from that record. Utterly bonkers that the CJ album that was least likely to succeed ends up being the best record they've done. Or not done. The nature of it makes it feel unessential but it's so good with it. Bonkers.

21: The Cosmic Jokers - Planeten Sit-In

The key word there is "Hobby". 3 records in and already the Cosmic Jokers have given up on the Joke. What Dieter does on this is beyond me and presumably this record is the cutting room floor personified as the Kaiser scrapes the bottom of the barrel for the last few shreds of Cosmic goodness. The next two LPs are "samplers" so perhaps that cosmic jam session was just a regular Jam session which Dieter dressed up and stretched out to 3 LPs.

Anyway, gone are the side long tracks and in their place are 13 vignettes of cosmic weirdness which gets over the "going nowhere" issues of the last two LPs but not far enough over. It still feels like a weird cosmic mess - lots of noodling and too much drugs no doubt. The titles are like some great Library LP which doesn't deliver: "Intergalactic Nightclub", "Loving Frequencies", "Electronic News". Despite having listened to this several times over the last week I can't recall anything about it, and it ends up being a fairly hollow experience.

The ultimate problem is simply this: Not enough Gille. After her quality warbling on Galactic Supermarket, I was looking forward to some more bonkers insightfulness. Alas, though being last on the bill on the sleeve, she has little to say on this. A great cosmic record but ultimately unfulfilling. Great cover though.

20: Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Supermarket

So - the Cosmic Jokers round 2. Still I'm confused: is this a remixed cosmic jam session or a deliberately recorded piece of music? Are the cosmic jokers really worthy of repeated listens? What is this music - it is not really like any other Kraut record but then maybe that's the point.

One thing is clear, however: This is way better than the first record. It feels less (though not completely less) meandering. It has vocals and, for once, the vocals really give it some direction. Again two tracks Kinder des Alles and Galactic Supermarket. Kinder des Alles is all synths and wibbles but the drumming keeps things moving and gives it all a sense of urgency that is actually appreciated. The second part of the first track is that massive church like synth a la Popol Vuh and Tangerine Dream.

But the key problem remains. This is clearly a cosmic jam session and even with added direction and vocals it can't disguise from the fact that they're all over the place - it all works and it's good but it's unsatisfying. And sometimes you can't get away with these types of things - if there's one vignette that really stands out that pushes it from okay to great then it works but there's nothing like that here.

Galactic Supermarket has less urgency but is pretty much more of the same. It has a bit more to say and veers off into a dub like space for some time. The last third is fantastic - Gilles is muttering with masses and masses of echo. "Galactic Supermarket presents Cosmic Raindrops". It's bonkers but it works and for a brief time I almost convinced myself that I need this record in my life. But I don't - it's good but it ain't that good.

19: The Cosmic Jokers - The Cosmic Jokers

This record was purchased (I think) as part of my pre-university krautrock stock up. I always had high hopes for the Cosmic Jokers, thinking them brilliantly conceived as the ultimate art rock joke. The krautrock super group - the Dieter Dierks organised mashed jam session gone crazy. The Jokers themselves gone cosmic, the cosmic gone jokers. How could this fail? A big messy kraut jam session blended down into 4 or 5 LPs and on Cosmic Couriers too. My teenage brain probably boggled at the potential in this record.

This was the time of Spalax so my Cosmic Jokers experience was broken up from two side long "jam sessions" into 5 littles slices of Cosmic Joy. Never having been a musician, I have no understanding how jam sessions come to pass and no comprehension of how or if Dieter took the cosmic jams and cut them up into something comprehensible. On the back of the sleeve there's a photo of the band and they're not pretty. It screamed possibility.

How, now then in 2012 - I've probably listened to this CD maybe 5 times. I just don't get it, it doesn't work, it's all over the place and feels probably more indulgent than it actually is. Unlike the great side long tracks which feel short, this feels like a lifetime. Like the Van Horne Pneumatic Transit it just goes on and on forever. The first side is somewhat frantic, drums and synths - not far from Ash Ra Tempel but with a bit more synth emphasis, and less of a groove. After 20 minutes or so Brian Barritt says "Galaxy of Fallons to Telepath 1". Bonkers.

The second side is more laid back - much more cosmic and less jokey. Maybe that's the critical problem with the Cosmic Jokers - it's not funny and the jokes on the listener. Given that this is the first of five - on of which is a "hilarious" compilation of the the other records. I don't know what I'm missing but I'm tired and this record does very little for me. I don't hate it, because all the ingredients are there and it's pretty far out but it comes and it goes and then it's gone, and it'll be another 7 years before I listen to it again. For the duration of listening to this whilst writing this, the rain was making a noise outside. I thought it was part of the record. It was not.

18: Tony Conrad - Outside The Dream Syndicate

Tony Conrad sounds like a barrel of laughs. Part of the Theatre of Eternal Music with laugh a minute chums La Monte Young and John Cale, according to Wikipedia his best known work is "Flicker", a film consisting of 5 frames, some completely black and some completely white that produces a flickering effect. The length of the film is not specified, but it does "end abruptly" and is soundtracked by Conrad on a synthesizer he built specially.

The Theatre of Eternal Music was also called The Dream Syndicate and hence this record where he performs with some of Faust "Outside the Dream Syndicate". It's a "difficult" record in that  not a great deal happens but it's surprisingly Faust like in sound but not perhaps in length.

So: two tracks, one called From The Side of Man and Womankind, the other called, From The Side of the Machine. Track one is a drum and cymbal one after the other, with Conrad playing the same note (though he wavers a bit) continuously. The track is 27 minutes long. There is not change in the description at any point. Despite this, however, it's really good and disturbingly listenable - the relenting beat gets into your head and you start noticing (or inventing) micro changes, thereby building the song up. Time passes and it never feels like 30 minutes. The final track turns the first on it's head - now it's a different drum beat, and a different violin drone. And bass guitar. The bass breaks the "only play one thing rule" and lifts the track up. It's also 27 minutes.

So Tony Conrad doesn't really add much to the affair, but you could think of this as a Faust record - albeit the mirror image of the Faust Tapes - stretching out time (ho ho) and making something that's not going to be on heavy rotation but is a really powerful record.

17: Cluster - Sowiesoso

Continuing both the Revolver records tape haul and my unashamed love of Cluster, comes their last entry under the Cluster name. Never purchased until now, this seems like a terrible oversight on my part - why did I chase the Neu's and Amon Duuls when these incredible records were available? On the cover Hans and Dieter are chilling by the lake, in the inside cover (of the CD version at least) they're hanging out at what appears to be a building site. Gone are the feverous drones and aggression of the last two albums and in their place is a contentment.

The title track is 8 minutes long and sounds a bit like Popol Vuh but with a rhythm and more synths. It's incredibly beautiful and for something which basically goes pretty much nowhere, feels a little on the short side. Halwa continues the trend of mixing guitars and synths in a twangly way and then Dem Wanderer ups the twang factor, including comedy twangs a plenty. Umfeitung is more rhythmic and more plinkety plonk. Zum Wohl is nice but Es War Einmal is stunning - sounding a bit like Boards of Canada but with much more clarity and vision, for me it's the masterpiece on the record. The last track In Ewigkeit is the most laidback of them all, Cluster manage to make so much out of so little.

And then it's gone. Cluster seem to be overlooked a little in Kraut round ups which seems a little unfair. They don't have the magisterial psych of Amon Duul, or the electronic influence of Kraftwerk. They are simply getting on with making stunning electronic music that is both ahead and behind it's time. As I've said before, I think Cluster, more than any other Kraut band, hang outside of any convention within the genre - they stand unique. I'm really glad I revisited these records, and took the effort to own them rather than having them on bootleg cassette.

16: Cluster - Zuckerzeit

Even my terrible German knows that this is Sugar Time. This continues the cassette haul from the legendary Revolver records in Bristol (Richard King writes way more eloquently than me here: http://caughtbytheriver.net/2012/04/original-rockers/) and this is a continuation of my Cluster love in. Basically Cluster are the Real Deal.

Zuckerzeit is the quintessential Krautrock / Electronic record - all about that mixture of warm synths and harsh drums. There's just something about Cluster though which, like Cluster 2, straddles any conventional music and hangs outside - not arch but pretty far out. Gone are the drones and hums of Cluster 2 and, in their, place is a more accomplished and more engaging electronic sound. Basically, Boards of Canada but recorded in 1974. It has tunes aplenty.

And, for a krautrock album, it has 10 tracks. They're all winners. Hollywood is all shuffled drums and synths but, unlike the previous record, had direction and impulse. And the motorik thing is in full effect - on the following track it's the same but taken further - at times touching on Neu territory. Rote Riki is more experimental but still retains some essence of the beat and Rosa sounds more contemporary than anything that's gone previously.

Caramba sounds like the Human League in the Future era, all synths and drums. James (skipping Fotschi Tong) takes them back to Cluster 2 times with drones and twangs, then Marzipan and Rotor continue the happy go lucky synth sound.

And then round to Heisse Lippen which Google turns into Hot Lips. This is the quintessential Krautrock sound - totally motorik, with a workmanlike electronic sound. Haven't heard Zuckerzeit for about 10 years or so but it still sounds as fresh and as terrifying as it did when I heard it way back when. There's just something astounding about a record which continues to sound contemporary despite being made nearly 30 years ago. Cluster are the winners of Krautrock.